Colleges: Oxford's Carla Berube never stopped winning

Wednesday

Jan 9, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Winning is something Carla Berube certainly did a lot of as a player. She led her Oxford High teams to a pair of state championships, and at the University of Connecticut helped the Huskies to the 1995 national title and a 132-8 record in her four years.

Not much has changed for Berube during her 11 years as Tufts University’s women’s head coach.

At 13-0, Tufts is off to the best start in the team’s history, and this week the Jumbos check in at No. 8 in both the D3hoops.com and USA Today national polls. That’s the highest ranking in team history. Last Saturday’s 54-41 win over Middlebury was the 200th of Berube’s career.

“The games and the years have flown by,” Berube said, “and I think it’s a testament to how much I’m enjoying my time here.”

Berube’s Tufts teams are 200-72 (.735) and she has guided the Jumbos to NCAA tournament appearances in four of the last five seasons. They reached the Elite Eight in 2008 and the Sweet 16 last season.

A number of players from last year’s 23-7 squad returned this year.

“We’ve had tremendous leadership from those returners and it’s led to great chemistry,” Berube said. “Everybody on the team, all 15 players are buying into the same thing and that’s to get better every day and to play with a lot of passion and to play defense every possession. I think the combination of those things and the work ethic my players have has led to a pretty good start.”

Berube played for John Doldoorian Jr. at Oxford, where she was a 2,000-point scorer, and for Geno Auriemma at UConn — two great coaches for sure. Berube has developed her own successful style over the last decade and has recruited well while keeping Tufts at or near the top of the ultra-competitive New England Small College Athletic Conference.

“We have great schools in our conference and basketball is extremely competitive,” Berube said. “We’re finding the right niche and the right student-athletes to play at the level we want to play at.”

After graduating from UConn in 1997, Berube played professionally for a couple of years, then joined the staff at Providence College. She was hired at Tufts in 2002.

Berube’s first game on the Jumbos’ bench was a 61-49 loss to RPI. She remembers it well. The next day, Tufts beat Emerson to give Berube her first coaching victory. She remembers that one better.

“I do remember the games and some of them have taken some years off my life,” Berube said. “It’s just great to make an impact on my players’ lives. That’s what’s most important. Hearing back from players who played for me six or seven years ago and enjoying this milestone as well, that’s what’s most important to me.”

Worcester State coach Dave Lindberg liked what he saw of junior transfer Dane Jobst during preseason practice, but he wasn’t expecting the kind of production Jobst has provided during the Lancers’ 7-4 start.

The 6-foot-6 forward from Athol is averaging a MASCAC-best 19.8 points to go along with 12.2 rebounds, which ranks him second in the conference.

“He’s kind of unassuming,” Lindberg said. “I thought he was good, I thought he was solid, I thought he’d be a piece, but his numbers have been great and he’s been a consistent scorer and rebounder for us.”

Lindberg recruited Jobst when he was at Mahar Regional High. Jobst attended and played basketball for two years at St. Joseph’s in Vermont, where his brother was a teammate. His brother graduated last year and Jobst decided he wanted to finish college closer to home.

He poured in 29 points against Trinity in his first game for the Lancers.

“He gets a lot of rebounds and he scores off those,” Lindberg said, “and he can also score from the perimeter. He takes what the game gives him.”

WSU started the year by winning four of its first five games. Senior forward Robert Hunter (15.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and freshman guard Alex Lopez (11.1 ppg, 4.1 apg) also have been key contributors.

The Holy Cross men open their Patriot League schedule Saturday at Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks, preseason PL favorites, will be without all-star guard and NBA prospect C.J. McCollum, who suffered a broken bone in his left foot during Lehigh’s game against VCU last weekend.

McCollum, who was scheduled to have surgery Tuesday, is expected to miss 8 to 10 weeks — potentially the entire PL season.

McCollum, a two-time Patriot League Player of the Year, is the nation’s second-leading scorer, averaging 25.7 points per game.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live at 2 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

Fan voting for this year’s Hobey Baker Award opened this week.

To vote, visit www.hobeybakeraward.com, click on the Vote for Hobey icon, and follow prompts to make a selection for college hockey’s top player.

Holy Cross senior defenseman Evan Zych, who leads the team with a career-high 13 assists, is on the fan ballot.

This first phase of fan balloting will run now through March 10. Phase Two will begin March 22 with the Top 10 Hobey Baker finalists.